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George Hadfield, Jr., House

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c. 1950, General Housing Company. 190 Hunts Ave.

A printer for the Pawtucket Times ordered this prefabricated house of polished enamel steel panels in two tones of tan, of a type then being developed for commercial structures. The house takes its form from the elongated box with low-pitched gable typical of the developers' “Cape Cod” (or simply “Cape”) ubiquitous after World War II. Rippled panels in dull gray are intended to give the roof a shakelike appearance. A corrugated metal shelter over the entrance and a slight boxy projection to make a living room bay window provide the only breaks in a simple shape which was designed to be assembled in various configurations. Lustrously preserved, it commemorates a postwar dream of converting aircraft manufacturing capacity from defense to housing production. It was hoped (but in vain) that the reassuring image would sell the homebuyer on the unconventional material and technology of the exterior shell.

Writing Credits

Author: 
William H. Jordy et al.
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Citation

William H. Jordy et al., "George Hadfield, Jr., House", [Pawtucket, Rhode Island], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/RI-01-PA35.

Print Source

Buildings of Rhode Island, William H. Jordy, with Ronald J. Onorato and William McKenzie Woodward. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004, 152-152.

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